Petra Kvitová
Petra Kvitová (Czech pronunciation: ˈkvɪtovaː; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed shots and variety, she has won eleven career singles titles. She reached her career-high ranking of world no. 2 in October 2011, and is currently ranked world no. 6. Her current clothing sponsor is Nike. Kvitová won the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon Championships and the 2011 WTA Tour Championships, beating Maria Sharapova, Eugenie Bouchard and Victoria Azarenka respectively, becoming the first Grand Slam event winner of either gender born in the 1990s, and the third player to win the WTA Championships in her first attempt. She has also reached the semifinals of the 2012 Australian Open and the 2012 French Open. Contents hide * 1 Early life * 2 Playing style * 3 Career ** 3.1 2008–2010: Early career ** 3.2 2011: Breakthrough ** 3.3 2012 : Continued success ** 3.4 2013 : Steady ranking ** 3.5 2014 : Second Wimbledon title * 4 Career statistics ** 4.1 Grand Slam finals *** 4.1.1 Singles: 2 (2 titles) ** 4.2 Year-End Championships *** 4.2.1 Singles: 1 (1 title) * 5 Singles performance timeline * 6 Doubles performance timeline * 7 Records * 8 Awards * 9 References * 10 External links Early lifeedit Petra Kvitová was born to Jiří Kvita3 and Pavla Kvitová in Bílovec, Moravia/ Silesia, Czech Republic (in 1990, still Czechoslovakia). Her father Jiří introduced her to tennis.4 During her childhood, she admired Czech American player Martina Navratilova. Kvitová trained in her hometown Fulnek until the age of 16, and was then encouraged by an instructor to pursue a professional career in tennis.5 Playing styleedit Kvitová is known for her fast left-handed serves. At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, she had 36 aces, the third-most of any woman.6 She hit 222 clean winners and another 12 winners, a record. She is also noted for her heavy forehand and backhand and is capable of creating sharp angles. She also possesses notable variety and timing, and is known to make up for her lack of speed by playing close to the baseline. Due to her high-risk, aggressive style of play she is known to produce a high number of unforced errors in matches.78 Careeredit 2008–2010: Early careeredit Main article: Petra Kvitová's early career Kvitová began 2008 by upsetting Anabel Medina Garrigues in France and former world no. 1 Venus Williams in Memphis, reaching the second rounds of both tournaments.9 She reached the fourth round of her first Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, in which she lost to Kaia Kanepi in three sets, having defeatedAkiko Morigami, Samantha Stosur and then-World No. 12 Ágnes Szávay en route. She advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2008 Zurich Open as a qualifier, thus placing her in the top 50 for the first time.9 Kvitová won her first career title in the 2009 Moorilla Hobart International, defeating Alona Bondarenko, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Virginie Razzano, and Iveta Benešová. After suffering consecutive first-round losses in the Australian Open (to Victoria Azarenka), the Open GDF Suez, and Dubai, she reached the third round inIndian Wells, losing to eventual champion Vera Zvonareva.10 She withdrew from the 2009 French Open due to an ankle injury and lost in the first round of Wimbledon. At the 2009 US Open, she defeated then-world no. 1 Dinara Safina in the third round in three sets, before losing to eventual semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer in the fourth round. Kvitová was ranked 71 places lower than Safina at the time. At the Generali Ladies Linz, Kvitová reached her second final of the year, losing in straight sets to Wickmayer.10 She reached the semifinals of the 2010 Cellular South Cup, and lost to eventual champion Maria Sharapova.11 She went on to reach the semifinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, defeating Sorana Cîrstea, Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, and Kaia Kanepi, before losing to then-world no. 1, defending and eventual champion Serena Williams, in straight sets. She was then guaranteed to reach the top 30 for the first time. Following Wimbledon, she suffered five consecutive first round defeats in her next five tournaments before breaking a six-match losing streak at the 2010 US Open, when she defeated Lucie Hradecká, and Elena Baltacha, before losing to defending and eventual champion Kim Clijsters in the third round; having led 3–0 in the first set, Kvitová lost the next twelve games in a row.11 2011: Breakthroughedit Main article: 2011 Petra Kvitová tennis season Kvitová holds the Venus Rosewater Dish Kvitová started 2011 by winning her second career title at the Brisbane International, defeating Andrea Petkovic in the final, and also earning wins over third seed Nadia Petrovaand fifth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. With the win, she achieved the ranking of world no. 28.12 Kvitová was the 25th seed at the 2011 Australian Open, where she lost a quarterfinal match to Vera Zvonareva. Her strong run ensured that she would reach a new ranking of world no. 18.13 In Paris, Kvitová won her second title of the year by defeating newly crowned world no. 1 and 2011 Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters in straight sets.14 Once again, Kvitová's ranking rose to a new high of world no. 14. She led the Czech Fed Cup team to the final round, with semifinal wins over Yanina Wickmayer and Kirsten Flipkens.15 Kvitová in the final 2011 Fed Cup against Kuznetsova She won the title at the 2011 Mutua Madrid Open, defeating Alexandra Dulgheru, Chanelle Scheepers, second seed Vera Zvonareva, Li Na, and Victoria Azarenka.16 She made her top-10 debut after the tournament at world no. 10. The following week, because Jelena Janković failed to defend her points in the 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Kvitová moved one place up to no. 9.13 Kvitová was the ninth seed at the 2011 French Open. She defeated Gréta Arn, Zheng Jie, and Vania King in straight sets, before losing to eventual champion Li Na in the fourth round, despite leading 3–0 in the deciding set.17 Kvitová won her first Grand Slam title as the eighth seed at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. She defeated Alexa Glatch, Anne Keothavong, 29th seed Roberta Vinci, 19th seed Yanina Wickmayer, 32nd seed Tsvetana Pironkova, and fourth seed Victoria Azarenka on the way to the final, where she beat fifth seed Maria Sharapova in straight sets.18 She became the first left-handed female player to win the singles title since Martina Navratilova in 1990, the first Czech player to win a Grand Slam singles title since Jana Novotná won Wimbledon in 1998, and the first Grand Slam tournament winner of either gender to be born in the 1990s.1920 Kvitová at the US Open Following Wimbledon, Kvitová lost to Andrea Petkovic during two matches of the US Open Series. She was then upset by Alexandra Dulgheru at the 2011 US Open, becoming the first Grand Slam champion to lose in the first round of the following Grand Slam without winning a set.21 Kvitová's form improved at the 2011 Toray Pan Pacific Open, where she lost to Vera Zvonareva in the semifinals, thus reaching the world no. 5 ranking. At the 2011 Generali Ladies Linz, she beat Rebecca Marino, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, Daniela Hantuchová, Jelena Janković, and Dominika Cibulková to collect her fifth title of the season.13 She won the 2011 WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul, becoming the third player to win the title in her first attempt.22 During the round-robin matches, she beat Vera Zvonareva, Caroline Wozniacki, and Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets, putting her through to the semifinals. Her next opponent was Samantha Stosur, whom she beat to reach the final—a match against Victoria Azarenka for the world no. 2 ranking, which Kvitová won in three sets.13 She concluded 2011 by helping the Czech Republic team win the Fed Cup and was named WTA Player of the Year and ITF Women's World Champion.23 2012 : Continued successedit Kvitová at the French Open At the beginning of 2012, Kvitová was widely expected to reach the world no. 1 ranking.2425 She stated that attaining the position "would be nice", but that her priority was to improve her game.24 Kvitová opted not to defend her title and ranking points in Brisbane, choosing instead to participate in the Hopman Cup exhibition with Tomáš Berdych. The pair went on to win the title, defeating France in the final. She won all of her singles matches at the event, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Caroline Wozniacki, and Marion Bartoli.26 Her next tournament was the 2012 Apia International Sydney, where she lost in the semifinals against Li Na. At the 2012 Australian Open, Kvitová was the favourite for the title. She defeated Vera Dushevina, Carla Suárez Navarro, Maria Kirilenko, Ana Ivanovic, and Sara Errani to advance to the semifinals, where she lost in three sets to Maria Sharapova, having been a break up in the third set.26 She continued her long run of wins in singles matches indoors (32 straight matches) with her four victories in Fed Cup against Germany and Italy in 2012, scoring hard-fought wins over Julia Görges, Sabine Lisicki, Francesca Schiavone, and Sara Errani. In Indian Wells, Kvitová lost in the third round to Christina McHale in three sets. In Key Biscayne, she exited in the second round after losing in three sets to Venus Williams. At the2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she convincingly defeated Francesca Schiavone and Angelique Kerber. However, she lost in the semifinals to Maria Sharapova in a tight two-setter.26 At the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open she was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Lucie Hradecká. Her next clay-court tournament was the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Angelique Kerber. Kvitová was seeded fourth at the 2012 French Open. She advanced to the semifinals for the first time in her career, after defeating Ashleigh Barty, Urszula Radwańska, Nina Bratchikova, Varvara Lepchenko, and Yaroslava Shvedova. There she lost to Maria Sharapova, the eventual champion.27 Kvitová at Wimbledon Championships Defending champion Kvitová's Wimbledon journey came to an end after she was overwhelmed in straight sets by four-time and eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.28 Kvitová competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics for the Czech Republic where she reached the quarterfinals. There she lost to Maria Kirilenko. Kvitová won the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada by defeating Marion Bartoli in the 3rd round, Tamira Paszek in the quarterfinals, Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals and Li Na in the final. Kvitová had her first two top 10 wins of the year at the Rogers Cup over Bartoli and Wozniacki. She played the Western & Southern Open where she reached the semifinals losing to Angelique Kerber. She won her second title of the year in New Haven, where she defeated Lucie Šafářová in the quarterfinals, Sara Errani in the semifinals and Maria Kirilenko in the final. She also secured the win in the total US Open Series. Coming into the US open series Kvitová had 3 wins and 7 losses against top 20 players, but was able to improve that record to 9 wins and 8 losses following her win in New Haven. At the US Open she lost in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli.29 On 24 October 2012. Kvitová was forced to withdraw from the 2012 WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul with a virus.30 She helped the Czech team to defend its Fed cup title, going 1–1 in singles matches against Serbia in the final. Before Czech Republic won 3–1 in the series through Lucie Šafářová. 2013 : Steady rankingedit Kvitová was seeded eighth at the Australian Open. She drew former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round and won in three sets, before suffering another early exit, losing to Laura Robson in the second round after leading 3–0 in the final set.31 Kvitová at the BNP Paribas Katowice Open Kvitová was awarded a wildcard into the 2013 Open GDF Suez following a poor Australian summer which netted just two wins from three tournaments.32 In Fed Cup, Kvitová and the rest of the Czech team met Australia and she started with a win in singles over Jarmila Gajdošová and followed it up with a three-set victory overSamantha Stosur, saving a match point in the process. This won the Czech Republic the tie and sent them to a semi-final tie against Italy where she lost against Roberta Vinci in straight sets and beat Sara Errani in 3 sets. Despite that the Czech team lost against the Italian team. She won her first title of the year in Dubai, where she beat Sara Errani in the final. Then, she reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells losing to Maria Kirilenko in three sets. She lost to Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in the third round at Miami. She followed it up with a final on clay in Katowice where she lost to Roberta Vinci. Kvitová at the Southern California Open After Katowice, she played in Stuttgart, beating Annika Beck 7–5 6–7 6–3 and Julia Görges 2–6 7–6 6–2 before losing 3–6 5–7 to Li Na in the quarter-finals. Her struggles on clay continued in Madrid, where she beat Yanina Wickmayer 4–6 7–5 6–4 then lost 6–2 2–6 3–6 to wildcardDaniela Hantuchová. Kvitová's next tournament was Rome. After a bye in the first round, she struggled past Sabine Lisicki 6–4 0–6 7–5 before losing to Sam Stosur 5–7 6–2 1–6. At the French Open, Kvitová beat Aravane Rezaï 6–3 4–6 6–2 in the first round and Peng Shuai 6–4 6–3 in the second round. She was defeated in the third round by current world number 54 Jamie Hampton in a match where she struggled 1–6 6–7 (6–8). Then she competed at the 2013 AEGON International but lost to Yanina Wickmayer in the second round. Kvitova reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. She lost to eventual semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens. At the 2013 Southern California Open, she fell to Virginie Razzano in the quarterfinals. Petra was the defending champion at the 2013 Rogers Cup but lost to Sorana Cirstea in the quarterfinals. At the 2013 Western & Southern Open, she lost to Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. Kvitova lost to Simona Halep in the final of the 2013 New Haven Open At the US Open, she fell in the third round to Alison Riske, causing her to drop out of the Top 10 for the first time since 2011. At the 2013 Toray Pan Pacific Open, she won her second title of the season, defeating Venus Williams in the semifinals and Angelique Kerber in the final. She will return to the Top 10 as of this win. She then defeated Li Na in the quarterfinals of the China Open before losing to Jelena Jankovic in the semifinals. She made the semifinals of the WTA Tour Championships after recording victories over Agnieszka Radwanska and Angelique Kerber but lost to Li Na, she ended the year as World No. 6. 2014 : Second Wimbledon titleedit Kvitova started her season by playing 2014 Hopman Cup with her boyfriend Radek Stepanek hoping to have a good 2014 season where she had successful results in 2012 by playing Hopman Cup. She won all her singles matches. Kvitova next played at 2014 Apia International Sydney. She beat Christina McHale and compatriot Lucie Šafářová in her first two matches. In the semifinals, she was stunned by No.107 and qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets, Pironkova went on to win the title. At the 2014 Australian Open, she succumbed against No.87 Luksika Kumkhum in three sets 2–6, 6–1, 4–6 despite breaking her service game at 5–3. Then she participated at the 2014 Open GDF Suez, but she withdrew because of a respiratory illness. Because of this, she was unable to compete in 2014 Fed Cup match against Spain. During the American hardcourt season, Petra lost in the fourth round to Dominika Cibulkova at Indian Wells. At Miami, she fell in the quarterfinals to 4th seed Maria Sharapova in straight sets. Petra began her clay court campaign by reaching the second round at Stuttgart losing to Alisa Kleybanova. She reached the semifinals at Madrid after Serena Williams withdrew from their quarterfinal match. She lost to Simona Halep in three sets. Kvitova lost her opening match to Chinese Zhang Shuai at Rome. At Roland Garros, she lost in the third round for the second straight year, this time to Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in a marathon three-setter. During the grasscourt swing, Petra competed at the 2014 AEGON International. She won her first two matches, defeating Lucie Safarova and Varvara Lepchenko. However she withdrew from her quarterfinal match due to a hamstring injury. Petra was seeded 6th at Wimbledon, she won her first two matches easily against compatriot Andrea Hlavackova and German Mona Barthel. She faced former champion Venus Williams in the third round and was two points away from losing the match but went on to win in three sets. After dismissing Shuai Peng in the fourth round, she beat two more Czechs on the way to the final, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Lucie Šafářová. She defeated Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets to win her second Wimbledon title.33 Career statisticsedit Main article: Petra Kvitová career statistics Grand Slam finalsedit Singles: 2 (2 titles)edit Year-End Championshipsedit Singles: 1 (1 title)edit Singles performance timelineedit Kvitová in Moscow with the trophy for the Fed Cup winners, 2011 ; Key Won tournament; or reached Final; Semifinal; Quarter-final; Round 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a Round Robin stage; lost in Qualification Round; absent from tournament event; played in a Davis Cup Zonal Group (with its number indication) or Play-off; won a bronze, silver (F or S) or gold medal at the Olympics; a downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament (Not a Masters Series); or a tournament that was Not Held in a given year. To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended. Doubles performance timelineedit Recordsedit * These records were attained in the Open Era. * Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements. * Records in italics are currently active streaks. Awardsedit ; 2010 * WTA Newcomer of the Year ; 2011 * WTA Player of the Year * WTA Most Improved Player * Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award * Fan Favorite Breakthrough Player * ITF World Champion * Czech Athlete of the Year * Category:1990 births